iMac - Software

afcdave

I have inherited a macintosh "iMac" Model Number: M5521 at home but it has no software on it whatsoever. I need an operating system and a word processor, does anyone know where I could pick up this software relatively cheaply?

Cheers,

Dave

monkeyfudge

That's one of the old G3 iMacs.

I don't think you can run OS X properly on that, so you'll need a copy of OS 9.

You can get it at this place:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/OS91CD/

But you might be able to find someone who has upgraded and still has a copy of OS 9 knocking about.

eggshapedfred

you could try linux on it (YellowDog works on PPC, Gentoo have a PPC port, Debian are bound to have a port too).

I don't know much about macs but (i think) all the above are free, so theres not much harm trying them out. then you can install something like openoffice for the office suite....

afcdave

Thanks for the info guys.

So does anyone have a copy of OS 9 that they would be willing to part with for a few quid?

I have a copy of linux at home, not sure which version it is.....guess it cant hurt to give it a shot though.

Also I have never used a Mac before so..... do i need to get into the bios (how?) and enable the cdrom as a boot device before I can load up an operating system?

Cheers,

Dave

darraghrogan

monkeyfudge wrote:

That's one of the old G3 iMacs.

I don't think you can run OS X properly on that, so you'll need a copy of OS 9.

You can get it at this place:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/OS91CD/

But you might be able to find someone who has upgraded and still has a copy of OS 9 knocking about.

I'm sure it's only a matter of upgrading the RAM...

http://www.apple-history.com/frames/body.php?page=gallery&model=imacslot This gives the tech spec on the machine

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=Apple%2BiMac&mfr=Apple&cat=RAM&model=iMac+%28G3-350%29&submit=Go RAM for it

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=30246 People using OS X on your imac. OS X is truly slick - get at least 256 ram and you'll soon yearn for a mac full time

Darragh

tba

afcdave wrote:

Thanks for the info guys.

So does anyone have a copy of OS 9 that they would be willing to part with for a few quid?

I have a copy of linux at home, not sure which version it is.....guess it cant hurt to give it a shot though.

Also I have never used a Mac before so..... do i need to get into the bios (how?) and enable the cdrom as a boot device before I can load up an operating system?

Cheers,

Dave

you have to make sure the linux is for macs first.

csaddict

afcdave wrote:

Also I have never used a Mac before so.... do i need to get into the bios (how?) and enable the cdrom as a boot device before I can load up an operating system?

If there's no OS on the hard drive, it should attempt to boot off CD.
Alternatively hold down the Apple Key and C at startup to boot off CD.

donalin

I have a copy of mac os 9 in great condition that i might be able to give you. €40?
I am curranly running osx 10.3 on my slot loading g3 imac 450mhz and have 128mb of ram. it works well enough. a bit slow at times. another 128mb would do alot!

afcdave

Yeah I may well be interested in purchasing that OS off you...